Key events
42 min: The rhythm of the match is broken up by a series of niggly fouls from players on both sides. Moussa Diaby gets in behind the Newcastle defence after playing a give-and-go with Douglas Luiz but with plenty of goal to aim at, shoots straight into the side netting at the near post from an admittedly tight angle.
40 min: Boubacar Kamara wins a free-kick for Villa, about 40 yards from the Newcastle goal. Luiz sends it wide to Lucas Digne, whose pulled cross into the Newcastle penalty area is intercepted.
37 min: A match that reached boiling in time in less time than your average kettle has seriously simmered down since Mings was stretchered off the pitch. The atmosphere around St James’ Park seems rather subdued in the wake of his as yet unidentified injury. I hope Mings is okay but he seemed in a terrible amount of distress after going to ground in the wake of a shoulder barge with Isak that could not have looked more routine or inoccuous.
35 min: Digne takes an excellent corner and Douglas Luiz takes advantage of a lapse in concentration from Bruno to try to steer a header goalwards. It’s a meaty header but he fails to hit the target.
31 min: Some overdue admin: In all the excitement following Sandro Tonali’s opening goal, I forgot to mention that Aston Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz was booked for dissent.
The name of Lucas Digne joins his in the referee’s notebook after the Villa defender kicked the ball out of Miguel Almiron’s hands as the Newcastle player tried to pick it up to take a quick throw-in. Fair enough.
30 min: Aston Villa substitution: with his hands covering his face, Mings is stretchered off to warm applause from all parts of the ground and is replaced by Pau Torres, who comes on for his debut.
27 min: Mings looks in lots of distress and players from both teams gesture for the stretcher-bearers. It looked to be a completely inocccuous coming-together with Isak but the Villa centre-half looks in all sorts of bother and seems to have suffered a serious leg injury. He’s currently being readied for the stretcher by the medics and will be replaced by Pau Torres.
25 min: Tyrone Mings goes down beating the gro0und in frustration after a shoulder-to-shoulder tussle with Alexander Isak. With no foul, play continued and moments later, Ollie Watkins failed to connect properly after running on to a pass from Diaby.
22 min: While it’s difficult to take your eyes off the action on the pitch, it’s worth noting that during a recent break in play, Eddie Howe retreated to the back of his technical area so that Jason Tindall could stride forward and give Anthony Gordon some instructions. We could see the same sort of manager/assistant to-ing and fro-ing during the match between Arsenal and Nottingham Forest earlier.
19 min: Anthony Gordon dispossesses Ezri Konza and is penalised. Villa win a free-kick, halfway inside the Newscastle half. Their hosts are defending with a very high line and nothing comes of the set piece.
GOAL! Newcastle 2-1 Aston VIlla (Isak 16)
Newcastle back in front. Alexander Isak prods home a ball squared his way by Sven Botman at a set-piece taken from deep after a John McGinn foul on Bruno Guimaraes. There’s a lengthy VAR check for offside but the goal stands.
15 min: Going back to that first goal; Emi Martinez parried a long-range effort from Bruno Guimaraes, but only in the direction of Anthony Gordon. He played a one-two with Joelinton which took him to the byline, which allowed him to send in a corss. Tonali hooked the ball home with a nice little swivel kick.
GOAL! Newcastle 1-1 Aston Villa (Diaby 11)
Villa equalise! Diaby, another debutant, spanks home a bouncing ball from 12 yards out with his weaker right foot to restore parity for Villa. The ball was played in from the right, Ollie Watkins got the flick-on and Miguel Almiron fell asleep. Diaby’s finish was most assured and measured.
10 min: Villa attack on the counter and Moussa Diaby canters up the inside left with the ball at his feet. He’s no slouch but Anthony Gordon gallops back to prevent him from turning inside and Villa’ new acquisition is unable to get a shot off. Excellent defending from Gordon, who’s had a very busy and proiductive start to this game.
8 min: Tonali almost scores his second after being played in behind by Anthony Gordon. He’s denied by an excellent save from Emi Martinez. It’s a seriously high octane start by Newcastle and Villa don’t knopw what’s hit them.
GOAL! Newcastle 1-0 Aston Villa (Tonali 5)
Newcastle lead! Sandro Tonali hooks them ahead just five minutes into his debut after getting on the end of an excellent cross from Anthony Gordon.
5 min: Anthony Gordon is fouled by Matty Cash and Newcastle have a free-kick wide on the left. Kieran Trippier’s delivery is uncharacteristically poor and he raises a hand by way of apology to his teammates.
3 min: Fabian Schar advances upfield and despatches the ball. Alexander Isak is sent in behind the Villa defence but is not quite quick enough to get himself in a one-on-one with Martinez.
2 min: The player of the tournament at the U21 European Championship won by England, Anthony Gordon gets forward down the inside left but is too hasty in getting his low cross into the penalty area. There’s nobody up in support and Villa clear their lines.
Newcastle United v Aston Villa is go …
1 min: Aston Villa get the ball rolling, with John McGinn doing the honours. Prior to kick-off, their players posed for a photo wearing T-shirts supporting their fallen comrade Emi Buendia, who suffered what is being reported as a “horrific” knee injury in training during the week. We wish him well in his recovery.
Not long now: Led by referee Andy Madley and his team of match officials, the teams march out for what could be a potential thriller on the Premier League’s opening weekend. They’re greeted by a ferocious din.
New rules: In new regulations which Newcastle fans could be forgiven for thinking may have been put in place specifically with their team in mind, managers are no longer allowed to be joined by their coaching staff in the technical area.
The upshot? If Eddie Howe or Unai Emery wish to stand on the edge of their designated pitchside rectangles barking instructions at their players, members of their coaching staff are not allowed to join them. THis could have a particularly adverse effect on the dynamic between Howe and his assistant Jason Tindall, who spent much of last season attached at the hip in their space outside their dug-out.
Referees have also been ordered to clamp down on time-wasting, with Newcastle having been listed among the main offenders in the Premier League last season. It’s a weird offence, time-wasting … one that fans gernerally have no problem with when their team is guilty of it, but tend to get quite stroppy about when their side are the victims. Funny, that.
St James’ Park: Unlike at the Emirates early today, the turnstiles at Newcastle’s fortress seem to be click-clacking with commendable efficiency and the stands are filling up nicely, so it seems unlikely this evening’s kick off will be delayed.
Those teams: Sandro Tonali is the only one of Newcastle’s trio of summer signings to force his way into Eddie Howe’s starting line-up and will presumably play on the right of a midfield three including Bruno Giumaraes and Joelinton.
Harvey Barnes and Tino Livramento settle for places on the bench, where they are joined by Callum Wilson. Alexander Isak gets the nod up front, with Anthony Gordon and Miguel Almiron playing either side of him.
In from Bayer Leverkusen for a reported club record fee of £51m, Moussa Diaby starts for Aston Villa. His fellow new arrivals, Pau Torres and Youri Tielemans, are among the substitutes.
Newcastle United v Aston Villa
Newcastle United: Pope, Trippier, Schar, Botman, Burn, Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes, Joelinton, Almiron, Isak, Gordon.
Subs: Dubravka, Lascelles, Wilson, Targett, Barnes, Livramento, Murphy, Anderson, Longstaff.
Aston Villa: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Mings, Digne, Kamara, Douglas Luiz, Diaby, McGinn, Bailey, Watkins.
Subs: Diego Carlos, Tielemans, Torres, Chambers, Coutinho, Olsen, Jayden Philogene-Bidace, Archer, Kellyman.
Referee: Andrew Madley (West Yorkshire)
Today’s match officials
Early team news
Newcastle go into today’s season opener with a fairly clean bill of health, although Joe Willock will miss their opening three games of the campaign as he recovers from a hamstring injury which precluded his participation in pre-season training. Emile Krafth and Javier Manquillo are also ruled out, while Fabian Schar will undergo a late fitness test.
Aston Villa suffered the hammer blow of losing Emi Buendia to a serious knee injury in the closing stages of training on Thursday and the midfielder joins an injury list on which the names Jacob Ramsey, Alex Moreno, Bertrand Traore and Leander Dendoncker already feature. Aaron Ramsey, younger brother of Jacob, is also unlikely to be in today’s matchday squad as he is about to finalise a £14m move to Burnley.
Premier League: Newcastle v Aston Villa
Having achieved a top four finish well ahead of schedule just 18 months after their takeover, Newcastle kick-off the season with a match against another of last season’s surprise packages. Following the dismissal of Steven Gerrard, Aston Villa were completely revolutionised and re-energised by Unai Emery, who took them from the lower reaches of the Premier League to seventh in just six months.
With both sides playing in Europe this season, they may struggle to replicate their league form of last season but both Eddie Howe and Emery have brought in new faces to increase their squad depth.
Sandro Tonali (AC Milan), Harvey Barnes (Leicester) and Tino Livramento (Southampton) have all been unveiled at St James’ Park, while Moussa Diaby (Bayer Leverkusen), Youri Tielemans (Leicester City) and Pau Torres (Villarreal) have been added to the Villa payroll. Kick-off at St James’ Park is at 5.30pm (BST) but we’ll have plenty of team news and build-up in the meantime.
